So Minnesota: Mendota Bridge

There are many bridges across Minnesota but one was considered a modern marvel when it was built.

The Mendota Bridge has a unique history. When it opened in 1926, it was the longest concrete arch bridge in the world.

Built over the Minnesota River between Fort Snelling and Mendota Heights, construction took 200 men two years to complete.

"As people are driving over the bridge, they look around and see the scenery, they don’t necessarily think about what they are driving over," Matt Carter with the Dakota County Historical Society said.

So Minnesota

The bridge opened with great fanfare. President Calvin Coolidge sent a telegraph and Minnesota Governor Theodore Christianson cut the ribbon.

"It was 4,000 feet long," Carter said. "It had 13 different arches that were built into it and each one of them was 120 feet up and then the span of them was about 300 feet wide."

The bridge was dedicated to the Gopher Gunners of the 151st field artillery who died in World War I.